Sonic Adventure: Event Horizon
by Tjaden of Threshold
Summary: AU SA2: Sonic the Hedgehog was at one time a hero, but to the eyes of the world, he is now the greatest of traitors. To clear his name, Sonic must confront a conspiracy fifty years in the making. This is the dark legacy of Ark.
1. Prologue: Flawed legacy

_War is one of humanities curses as well as a blessing. War is a curse because countless souls are lost, a lot land and potential wasted. War is a blessing because it is a part of evolution, development in technology, learning from the mistakes, the discovering of new things. Interstellar War One was not a war, it was a full-scale genocide. Both the humans and the furies fought in this holocaust, and both suffered together. However, no good came from this war. Planet, after planet, was destroyed in some way or another. All the planets in the Sol System suffered. The glorious colonies of Mars, part of a debris field, and the research facilities on Venus molten slag on a naked world exposed to the Sun. The moon reshaped as a smooth ball of titanium and glass, and the Earth, now a lifeless world of acidic vapor. _

_However, it wasn't over. Everything has a balance; even planet-crushing campaigns have good outcomes, and bad outcomes. Five years after the war ended humankind and the furies began to terra-format the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, ensuring their survival for hundreds of years. But it can't last. They realize this and look to terra-formatting as a means to repair Earth, and quiet possibly make Venus a second home. But there is no way to land on Earth without having the ship and its contents reduced to particles. However, on of the surviving research facilities is still in orbit around Earth. Ark, built twenty years ago would do the job of repairing Earth, while machines head to Venus and start the restoration there._

_Ark was the first space colony built by man in 2134, one year before the war, and soon it would truly live up to its name. The reconstructed government of the furies and humans elected a fifty-four-year-old man by the name of Professor Gerald Hess to head the research. At first he did not want to take the offer, because the Supreme Chancellor of the time, Francis McCormick, wanted Gerald to research immortal life. The reason Gerald refused was because he knew that such a thing was..."ridiculous," for an appropriate term. Nothing lasts forever. But Gerald's granddaughter, Maria, soon contracted a genetic virus called NIDS (Neuron Immunodeficiency Disorder), which killed his daughter Aida Hess, three years previous. Gerald did not want to loose Maria like he lost Aida, so he took the Supreme Chancellor's offering just so he could use the money for his own research in the disease._

_Soon, Gerald Hess was sent to the Ark, the research station that promised the life of his granddaughter, but he still had the immortality issue to worry about. He supervised the restoration project on Earth, the immortality project—which wasn't his favorite—and his greatest passion: the research on NIDS. He worked for several years on the immortality project, which he called Project Shadow just for the butt of jokes because it was supposed to be secret, and he developed a cure for all three stages of NIDS. However, Maria was severely crippled in the legs by this time, and could hardly stand up without collapsing, but the antidote was given to her before she entered stage two. Gerald accomplished his goal. Wanting to find a way to get Maria's mobility back, he convinced Supreme Chancellor Francis McCormick to support Project Shadow. She agreed readily because of Hess' great success in the restoration project on Earth, which was now nearing its completion. But was suspicious to why Gerald was so enthusiastic about the project now when he was so _anti-immortal_ three-and-a-half years ago._

_The answer came when the Chaos Emeralds mysteriously disappeared several months later. The Guardian of Angle Island at the time, Earth's only region to survive the war, suspected foul play, but no one thought to blame the professor._

_Gerald, backed by the government all the way, continued Project Shadow with gruesome diligence. It was then that the Bio-lizard, prototype to the Ultimate Life-form was finished. It was ageless, but proved to be a failure, because it attacked anything in sight and was nearly invincible. Gerald adopted the idea that this is what she wanted, but felt that he needed a failsafe, a dead man's switch of sorts to contend with the Bio-lizard. This became the finalized version of Project Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog the Ultimate Life-form. Maria usually came to visit her grandfather and Gerald being the doting grandfather and realizing the importance of teaching Shadow kindness let Maria befriend the super weapon._

_Four years passed by, and Gerald Hess was proud with the progress of Shadow, and how he could relate to humans and other furies, it was a success. Now he could focus his attention the Eclipse Cannon, a weapon the newly formed Guardians of the United Nations, he wasn't particularly fond of this but felt he should be true to the government he fought for during the war. Gerald was a patriot of sorts, but soon he would have everything taken away from him._

_By 2153 the Eclipse Cannon was complete. Gerald, however, not wanting another war made it require tremendous amounts of energy to function, so he and his colleagues crafted a device to harvest the powers of the Chaos Emeralds. Maria, now sixteen, and Shadow now age six, but appeared to be eighteen could finally enjoy Earth because Gerald was going to retire once he passed all the red tape of G.U.N. However, this was where it all went downhill._

_The new Supreme Chancellor now called President of the United Nations held a grudge against the Hess' for some unknown reason, and convinced Congress to permanently shut-down Project Shadow and detain all onboard the colony. Congress refused, which was a big mistake. President Graham secretly sent a spy by the name of Axe Monroe the Fox as a new employee on Ark to figure out what Gerald has been researching. Axe succeeded in finding information on the Bio-lizard, and where it was, and even the hedgehog Shadow. Axe also discovered that Gerald was also researching NIDS a few years back, and was now researching cybernetic implants to get his granddaughter's mobility back. Graham manipulated all of this information into a lie, and told Congress. Unfortunately Congress believed him, and ordered G.U.N to shut down the colony._

_Everyone on the colony was killed, save for Gerald Hess and Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow was put in cryogenic freeze in the newly reconstructed Area-51, and Gerald was detained on Alcatraz Island, or "Prison Island". A maximum security detention center near what was San Francisco. Several weeks after the "incident" Gerald was instructed to design a mechanized army for G.U.N, he did do without thought, but then he learned about how his granddaughter died. And the United Nations had the gall to say they all died because of a massive air leak, they even said he died. Gerald Hess felt betrayed, and went insane. Consumed by his hatred for the UN he used algorithms to communicate with the Bio-lizard back on Ark, secretly. Gerald Hess was added to the casualty list on April 20, 2163._

_Fifty years have passed from that day to this, and this is where our odyssey begins to unfold... _


	2. Chapter 1: The crisis

The first real chapter is up, and after this we get into the real story. Oh, and just tosave the confusion this is an AU to the childish storyline of _SA2_, and a different lokk on Shadow's past to the... er...intersting one presentedin _Shadow the Hedgehog_.

* * *

Chapter 1

The Crisis

1200hours, August 19, 2213 (Military Calendar)

U.S Midway "Prison" Island

Brigadier General Louis Connery looked at the view screen. Shock, horror,mixedwith slightdistaste, contorted his ravaged crystalline eyes glowed with seething anger, but when he moved he gave the impression of a proud, even-tempered man that never lost his cool, even in battle. Out of all the staff of the Guardians of the United Nations he was the only veteran of the first, hopefully the last, interstellar war. He knew things that people did not know old experiments from the early days of the new global and interplanetary government. General Connery watched the security recordings of the old NORAD facility inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. The recordings showed lethargic soldiers, still in their boxers with food in their mouths, shooting franticly at whatever was behind a raging inferno. The recording had no sound, which only made the unveiling seen more... scary. The flash of the BR-45s, the horror stricken faces, the gore made the situation look worse than it really was. However, the shock and horror on the general's face quickly subsided. This was nothing new to a grizzled old veteran from Interstellar War One. He had seen it before, and his face wore the grim smile of a man that knew he was lost in history.

"What the hell is going on here?" Field Marshal Yamashita bellowed as he burst in through the door with something akin to fear on his young face. He was from New Tokyo on Io. Field Marshal Yamashita was thirty-years-old a hothead, and very racist toward furies, he even hated humans that weren't Asian. This explained Yamashita's lack of respect toward his superior officer, Connery, who was native to Oklahoma.

"You tell me," General Connery said quietly as he continued to stare at the LCD monitor.

Yamashita's face went beet red, but he did not shout, "You, sir, are supposed to be in charge of NORAD," he stated dryly, "How did this happen? Why did this happen?"

"That place," he continued trying to keep his composure, "holds many secrets, which I'm sure you no about, and if those secrets get out we're screwed, because if what I think was stolen from NORAD then we are done for."

Connery ignored the statement, andwatched therecording until the entire "battalion-in-boxers" was annihilated, then something emerged from the fire. It was a mobile walker of some type, it was unlike anything in the records, but it appeared to be a manned version of the All-Terrain- Hunter-Killer class. The difference was that it had a domed-shape cockpit in place of the rectangular ones used by the Marines or G.U.N. The body itself was very stocky, and seemed to be purposely designed for closed spaces, such as NORAD.

The general paused the recording, and typed several commands into the keyboard. The computer zoomed into the cockpit, it was distorted at first but the pixels soon disappeared. It repeated this several more times before a crystal-clear picture of the man appeared. Connery could see some of the man's lower face, but the rest was obscured by a shadow, and his hood.

Well, he was out of ideas. The media would be here soon, wanting, no, _demanding _answers. And he had nothing to show for, except some mysterious moron used all of the 757th battalion as target practice. He was Brigadier General Louis Connery, the most prestigious man in G.U.N, and when the media arrived, he would have no choice but to make lame excuses, making the government look like and idiot.

He sighed, "Yamashita what was stolen from NORAD? I want answers, and I want them now. Is this event somehow connected with the siege at Oregon Base?" Yamashita nodded curtly.

Oregon Base was a depository for government artifacts, the finds on Mars before it was shattered in the war, and many artifacts from the ancient anthrop (fury) countries before humankind rose in Mesopotamia. But the most prestigious treasure in Oregon Base was the white Chaos Emerald, of which was stolen several weeks ago. The Chaos Emeralds were jewels that contained truly unlimited power. Each one produced more energy than all the stars in the Andromeda and Milky Way, but no machine man or the furies created could tap into the emeralds' true power, so the white emerald sat deep within the confines of Oregon Base.

Two days ago the base mysteriously collapsed upon itself, but nothing was stolen. None of the artifacts from Mars, or the old anthrop nations was taken. However, it only got worse. When the demolition crews explored the core of the base they found the Chaos Emerald missing, which was what they were sent to retrieve. And now all the NORAD personnel were _murdered_ or seriously injured. This was a sick game.The infiltration of both NORAD and Oregon Base within two days was tooconvenient, and it worried the veteran.

"Field Marshal," General Connery said harshly, knowing that he would have to tighten security now, because most likely Prison Island was next on the infiltrators hitlist.

"Set up a defensive perimeter around the island. Do not let anything get within one hundred miles of here. If they do, blow them to hell! Do you understand me?"

Yamashita saluted, and said "sir yes sir" before leaving to complete his new orders. Well. At least he follows orders, Connery thought, as he turned toward the LCD view screen once again.

The next two hours were spent watching recordings of the NORAD incident. The walker made its way down into the newer part of the instillation shooting at anything that moved. Nothing seemed to stop this thing, not even the robots. By the end of the fifth disk it was close to the sublevel where _it_ was kept.

The walker decimated the last line of defense before the sublevel; which was small robots that looked like flying manholes with guns. They weren't much of threat to the walker, but the robots nearly overwhelmed it. The little buggers attacked in swarms, and buzzed around and around, taking multiple shots at the intruder, like angry hornets. Soon, however, they were gone, and the walker made its way toward a behemoth, off-white, blast door, which was the entrance to the sublevel.

As Brigadier General Louis Connery watched, his scarred face turned into despair mixed with interest. The occupant of the walker opened the cockpit; he made sure his hood that was part of a long flowing cloak, was covering his face. He reached into the all terrain vehicle and pulled out what had to be some type laser cannon. The intruder checked his ballistic armor, a stronger than titanium composite material, and he charged the massive weapon. He walked over to the control panel, and proceeded to type in the password.

At first Connery, watched with a smile on his features, but soon found that he was gawking at the screen.

The man succeeded in activating the opening cycle of the massive seventy-foot thick blast door. This was bad. Then the white glow of tracer bullets could be seen whizzing past the infiltrator. The intruder ran, and ducked behind the walker. The gunfire continued.

Connery stared at the, just like a little kid in movie. But the man was obscured by the bulbous shadow his walker. Then Connery noticed that the G.U.N Special Ops, from within the sublevel, were advancing slowly keeping up the volley of gunfire. Foolish move on their part, for the muzzle of a gun could be seen poking-out above the walker's canopy. A moment later, a small ball flew above the walker, and landed right in the center of the Special Ops'. Within a few seconds the ball popped like a balloon, sending thick phosphorescent fluid all over the troops. The super adhesive gel caused the soldiers to stick to the floor, and their clothing.

The infiltrator took this opportunity and gunned them down with his laser cannon. It was sickening sight. Most of the G.U.N Special Ops personnel fell to the ground engulfed in flames, the others ended up missing an arm or a leg or a head.

The intruder waited a few moments before leaving the cover, which had saved his worthless life.

He walked into the sublevel, which was simply a massive cave with a few power generators on the far left, and far right. In the center, straight ahead, was a humungous cryogenic freeze station. The intruder made haste, because he probably felt that if he dawdled too long more G.U.N Special Ops would show up.

As he made it to the control consol, the brigadier general held his breath, hoping that the intruder did not know how to work it. That cryogenic freeze station was the only one in existence built by Gerald Hess after the accident on Ark.

Connery watched in amazement as the man worked hacked into the consol. Soon he had the "plug" ready to receive a Chaos Emerald. He pulled out the white one, the very same one from Oregon Base, and put it into the "plug".

The station hummed to life, and a long rectangular tube came out of a pit in the floor just in front of the freezer. What happened next was comparable to the events in Frankenstein. An anthrop hedge hog slowly climbed out of the tube, looking down at its rescuer. The hedgehog was obviously pleased with its newfound freedom, and began a conversation with the unscrupulous character that had killed hundreds of people to make it this far.

Even though Connery could not here what they were saying, it wasn't anything good.

The hedgehog jumped down on top of the consol, and grabbed the emerald that revived him. He stood to his full height of five feet eight inches. Something caught the hedgehog's attention, causing the infiltrator to turn around abruptly. There standing at the door, was a large Air-to-Ground walker, another member of the G.U.N Special Ops had arrived.

The hedgehog grinned wickedly as the AGW began a barrage of missile fire. The infiltrator aimed ran to the left firing directly at the AGW's canopy, but his weapon wasn't powerful enough to penetrate the shields. The hedgehog raised his right hand, the one with the Chaos Emerald, pointing it at the AGW. The pilot was too preoccupied with the infiltrator to notice the Chaos Emerald shimmering.

What transpired Brigadier General Louis Connery would never forget.

The hedgehog bellowed a command most likely, and there was an intense flash. The flash was so bright that Connery had to look away from the LCD monitor, and when he looked at it again there was nothing left. There were three steep trenches in the, and smoking debris falling about the cave. The hedgehog looked at the infiltrator, who sat there, flat on his ass, gawking. The hedgehog said something to him, and the infiltrator only nodded. Then the hedgehog disappeared from the room, and the infiltrator hurried to his walker before any other AGWs or G.U.N Special Ops show up. Luckily the hedgehog did not destroy it.

The recording fizzled-out, and Connery stared at the screen with a blank look on his face, but his eyes told the world that he was afraid.

"Sir the ABC, the BBC, and the SSNN are here for the conference," Eliza Holt, the general's secretary, said calmly from behind the door. Conneryanswered yes trying to keep his composure,and within a few minutesleftthe room shaking.

* * *

Bonus story

A hedgehog sees the truth

"Now, hedgehog, it's time to die," Shadow snarled as he pointed the Chaos Emerald at Sonic.

"Hey, come on I'm only twenty.Why the hell do want to kill me? What did I ever do to you?" Sonic asked. He wipedhis sweat mattered fur and staired atthe black and red antagonizer, called Shadow.

It became more and more appearent that Shadowwasn't going to answer. Shadow only stared at Sonic, red eyes smoldering, as if waiting forSonic to answer.

"There are so many thingsI have got try," Sonic pleaded.

"Like what?" Shadow growled, loosing his patience.

"I still live with my mother. My femfriend dumped me because," Sonic sniffed, "she found out that I still live with mom. I don't even havea fricking job. The only reasonI have girlfriend is because I've never been laid. Even Tails has been laid, and he's only fifteen, my life sucks I'm pathetic. I still have yet... to...to. Ah, hell what do you call those rectangular things with paper inside them?"

"A book," Shadow said, finding it hard not to laugh.

"Yes that's it! A book."

Shadow fell down rolloing around in the dirt laughing.

Isat on a rock behind the camera crew, not believing what I was seeing, "Cut,"I said, "Cut!"

Everone one on the set was laughing, andI couldn't help but smirk.

Sonic looked baffled, while Shadow tried to mock him by reinacting theSonic's "mis-part".

"Sonic, the reason I said cut was because you're a _little_ too into it, and besides that's not your line."

"What?" Sonic shouted, "Hand me that script."

It said Knuckles' script, and Sonic howeled.

"Any lets take a break, tomarrow we are going to film the destruction of Prison Island."

Unfortunately no one, not even I, let Sonic live that one down.

_FIN_


End file.
